Hi

I am a new poster, so apologies for any breaches in etiquette or forum rules. I have recently bought a used Rancilio S24 (for 110GBP). It was used commercially but I bought it from a private vendor. It is pretty clean inside compared to some I have seen in forums. It powers up, the pump initially made a horrible noise. I switched off immediately and removed the air bubbles from the water lines. The autofill now works, boiler fills, pump cuts out when the boiler is full. When I press the coffee dispense button, cold water comes through the shower head. There is no steam/hot water, the boiler is cold to the touch and the pressure gauge on the front panel is lifeless. The button on the safety thermostat has not popped out - see pictures. I have read several previous rebuild posts (sketcher yours was very informative thank you).
I have borrowed a multi meter and when touched to the spades connected to the immersion element, I get a resistance of 32.9 ohms. I am hoping this is within tolerance and a previous owner has not run the boiler dry and cooked the element. Should I turn my attention now to the safety thermostat or the pressure switch? I have tried to remove the safety thermostat for examination but when the bolt attaching it to the boiler reached the end of its thread and still wouldn't lift out, I stopped for fear of breaking the metal tube. again see pictures. Any advice will be gratefully recieved

Thank you,Roy (Very thirsty newbie)

Wow, your machine looks super clean, cleaner than I've ever seen a used s-series. If you have a multimeter, it might be easier to check the voltage across terminals on the heating element (I don't know what the resistance should be but between the powered and unpowered position, you should see some serious voltage change). When the power in in switch position 2 (to the right on my machine), you should get some action on the boiler element. If you're in position 1 (left) this is a pump-run mode which won't heat the system (sorry if this was obvious before). If you want to remove the pictured fittings, I understand your concern about too much force on the tubing, you're right to be cautious. I'd remove the other end of this line first so it's free to give a little, then proceed on removing the end in questions. I'm sorry I can't be more specific but I'm not that familiar with the S-24's. I know this might be a bit of a setback but the fact that your dosing works is very important (not so much that it doses correctly but that the computer isn't totaled). Furthermore, the machine looks well-cared for. I can't say it's totally working and you may have to stretch to a new heating element but even then, you're very well ahead of the game.

Hi Thomas

Thank you for taking the time to reply. The voltage measuring idea is great. I think our machines differ in that yours has a two position switch, to fill and then heat, mine has a one position switch where the heating starts automatically once the boiler is full. I'll re-connect the thermostat, and see what measurements I can get with the multi meter. I'm glad you were impressed with the condition, it was apparently installed in a nightclub. I'm guessing that coffee wasn't the number one selling beverage

I'm hoping that a new element is not necessary from shopping around they seem to cost more than I paid for the machine but que sera

Hi Again

The element is working, I bypassed the thermostat by disconnecting the four spade connectors and taping them together with electrical insulation tape - see picture. The gauge on the front panel went up to the level shown in the second picture, before steam and small bubbles began to escape from the point on the boiler where you can see some corrosion on the image. I opened the steam wand valve and the hot water valve (no action), but hot water came through the shower head when the brew switch was thrown. I will need to order a thermostat and a boiler gasket? Any ideas why the steam and water don't work?



Roy